


Save Me

by ambersagen



Category: The Avengers (2012), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, and an asprin, and need feelings, because I'm sick, just feelings, no smut yet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-10-03
Updated: 2012-10-03
Packaged: 2017-11-15 12:51:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/527514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambersagen/pseuds/ambersagen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post Avengers, the usual mix of universes because I do what I want. Thor receives a surprise visit from Loki, but something is horribly wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Save Me

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this while I was horribly sick and really needed something. Idk. I was trying to sleep but my brain was too awake, so I wrote this on my phone with the notes app. 1000 letters a note. I will write more of this soon I think. Feedback is always welcome!  
> 

It’s early morning, so early that the twilight is barely enough to see by, which explains why Thor cannot at first comprehend who it is that has just fallen across his doorstep, although centuries of familiarity tells his unconscious who it is.

Loki.

Luckily his body is well trained, and doesn’t wait for his brain to take command of the situation as he jumps forward to catch his brother as he collapses.

Thor’s mind scrambles to take in the situation, half ready to attack Loki,half ready to defend him, but his brother is sinking to the floor with a pained whine, not even trying to hold himself up as Thor grasps at him in an attempt to support his weight. 

“Thor?” Loki whispers, and then drops in a dead faint before Thor can even think of answering. 

When Loki was very young he used to sneak into Thor’s bedroom at night. 

Thor remembers the way Loki would softly crawl into bed with him, the way he would wiggle right up against his chest and Thor would rub his back until he relaxed enough to fall asleep, curled in a little ball at his side like some sort of small animal. Thor would lay there in the dark, marveling at the feel of his tiny body as he took sleepy little breaths, how soft Loki’s chubby skin was next to his own, savoring the clean smell of soap and cedar wood that was all Loki.

How different from the brother that lay beside him in the unfamiliar space that was his home on Midgard. In later years Loki told him that it was because he could never stop thinking that he joined him at night, that there was something about being left alone in all that quiet that made his head spin, and that being around Thor provided enough stupidity to dampen any brilliant thinking. Thor never let this bother him; it was probably only half a truth anyway, so did it really matter what the reason was? It was a memory he held dear in later years when they began to grow apart, a memory that told him they once each took comfort in the presence of the other, that there once was a time when there was trust and peace between them.

This Loki was barely recognizable as the same person. As he gently moped his brother’s brow Thor’s heart ached at how changed his brother looked, how tired. Once sleekly toned muscle was now little more than skin over bone; his brother’s long, lean form finally giving way to something more skeletal in nature than athletically trim. Deep smudges of purple and green under his closed eyes betrayed the count of days since his last rest, and Thor worried as he watched him twitch and groan in his sleep, eyelids flickering as if able to see horrors even while unconscious. His breaths were shallow, with a weak rasping sound to them that Thor had never heard the like of. He put the cloth away and sat a moment by his brother’s side as he considered what to do. Finally, he rose and gathered what spare bedding he could find around the house, as well as a basin of warm water and bathing cloths. These he brought to his brother’s bedside. 

He felt some little relief when his brother barely stirred as he removed his layers of tunics. This meant he could care for him properly, without any struggle, but even so he felt a sinking dread at the lethargy Loki displayed at his touch. What he saw when he finished disrobing him was enough to confirm his dread. Deep bruises the size of Mjolnir were dotted along his brother’s torso, cuts and scrapes were etched various places along his skin, and there were signs of more serious wounds in the process of healing. Thor sat silent as he struggled with himself, breath hitching as tears fought to escape his eyes. “Oh Loki,” he thought as he fought to control himself. “Why do you do this?” 

There had been one time, in the past, when they were adolescents on the brink of manhood, that Thor had caught Loki, knife in hand as he traced thin lines of blood down his own arms. Horrified, he had demanded to know why his brother would do such a thing. The only response he had received was dissatisfactory to say the least. 

“I don’t want to hurt anymore.”

Needless to say, Thor had gone straight to Frigga and she had put a stop to Loki’s experiment. But Thor had small moments afterwards, when he suspected that Loki never truly stopped. That he had simply become cleverer at hiding the results of his actions. And from that point on Loki began to become clever indeed. There was little now that Thor could trust when it came to his brother.

Taking a deep breath Thor began to tend to Loki’s wounds, hands gentle as he bathed each afflicted area, voice soft as he murmured soothingly when Loki cried out or whimpered in pain at his touch. Soon his brother was again clean, smelling of soap and dressed in a pair of Thor’s sleeping robes. Carefully Thor piled pillows and bedding around him, giving extra support to his head and making sure to pad his more severely wounded areas. It was clear to him that Loki had finally given out, his body simply unable to keep healing itself under the constant abuse he put it through. Thor did not know what had driven Loki to seek him out in his need, but he was determined to protect him this time.

Even if it was from himself.

Satisfied that his brother was as comfortable as he could make him Thor slid himself in beside him, pulling him close as gently as he once did. As he lay in the dark, listening to his brother’s fitful sleep, he imagined he could feel the warmth slowly returning to Loki’s abused body.

All day Thor watches Loki, the time easing by slowly as he waits for his brother to waken. At times he finds himself breathing as Loki breathes, breath stuttered and drawn, until he finds he can no longer keep the rhythm as his lungs scream for air. Then he gets nervous, reaching out to run his fingers through tousled black hair, trying to reassure himself that Loki is real, that he is indeed alive, and at least for the moment that they are together. Twice he rose to change the bedding, once to open the windows of the room to bring in the clean air. His knowledge of healing was not unimpressive, but his expertise lay in battle wounds, not lingering malaise. Still, he did what he could until finally, as he again lay on the bed watching his brother in the fading light, he felt the stirrings of consciousness from him. A quiet sigh of relief escaped his lips as Thor watched eyelids flicker open, revealing green that pierced his heart, even when they were clouded by confusion and sleep. 

“Thor,” Loki whispered, voice coming out in a choked, almost plea. Without thinking, Thor reached out to him, pulling him supportively up against his body hug that Loki desperately tried to escape from. But his struggles were weak, and Thor knew they were part of the lie, the layers of bitterness that his brother wrapped around himself to hide his pain. Eventually Loki lay still, panting and gulping as he fought to stifle sobs, tears making wet streaks down his pale cheeks. 

“I hate you,” he says, repeating the phrase like it’s the only thing keeping him alive as Thor gently rocks him in his arms, holding him until he again falls asleep, safe, for now at least, in his older brother’s arms.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hello. I am a lonely person.  
> ambersagen.tumblr.com


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